There are a wide variety of packages which include (1) a container, (2) a dispensing system extending as a unitary part of, or attachment to, the container, and (3) a product contained within the container. One type of such a package employs a dispensing valve for discharging one or more streams of product (which may be a liquid, cream, or particulate product). See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,614 assigned to AptarGroup, Inc. The package includes a flexible, resilient, self-sealing, slit-type valve at one end of a generally flexible bottle or container. The valve is normally closed and can withstand the weight of the product when the container is completely inverted, so that the product will not leak out unless the container is squeezed. When the container is squeezed and the interior is subjected to a sufficient increased pressure so that there is a predetermined pressure differential across the valve, the valve opens. In the preferred embodiment, the valve stays open, at least until the container pressure drops below a predetermined value. In accordance with the preferred embodiments disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,614, the valve can be designed to snap closed if the pressure differential across the open valve drops below a predetermined amount. The valve can also be designed to open inwardly to vent air into the container when the pressure within the container is less than the ambient external pressure, and this accommodates the return of the resilient container wall from an inwardly squeezed condition to the normal, unstressed condition.
It would be desirable to provide an improved valve for a dispensing system that would beneficially allow the user to easily locate the valved discharge end of the inverted container over a receiving receptacle or other target area while minimizing product discharge messiness.
Such an improved valve should also facilitate ease of dispensing the product when the interior of the container is pressurized (e.g., when the container is squeezed or when the container internal pressure is increased by other means).
It would also be advantageous if such an improved valve could accommodate use with bottles, containers, or packages that have a variety of shapes and that are constructed from a variety of materials.
Further, it would be desirable if such an improved valve could accommodate efficient, high-quality, large-volume manufacturing techniques with a reduced product reject rate to produce a valve with consistent operating characteristics.
The present invention provides an improved dispensing valve which can accommodate designs having the above-discussed benefits and features.